Innovation

AML Insights (Anti Money Laundering Insights) from Vocalink won the Rising Star Award at Market Gravity's Corporate Entrepreneur Awards in November 2018 - a proven concept with the potential to make a significant impact.

So who are Vocalink?

Vocalink are a Mastercard company, acquired by them last year

They operate payments infrastructure between banks in the UK, processing 12 billion payments per year

Those payments are highly structured. High volume, high structure payments react well to advanced data science treatments such as machine learning and artificial intelligence

4 years ago, Vocalink created a company which creates products out of the analysis of this data for banking clients , UK consumers and other businesses

AML Insights is one of the most successful products that Vocalink has created. Fraud is a huge problem in the UK, with money launderers typically transferring sums to one account and then quickly breaking that sum down through multiple transfers to different accounts, with different banks. This process is then repeated by the secondary accounts to make tracking the money incredibly difficult. Fraud figures in the UK are very high: in the first half of 2018 the total value scammed from people was £145 million.

What does AML Insights do, and how does it work?

AML Insights is a network product - enabling suspicious payments to be traced, even if the payment is split between multiple accounts and across different banks.

The product creates a visual map of when and where the money has moved, and is also able to pinpoint individual accounts known as 'money mule' accounts, which are used to transfer stolen funds.

This works to disrupt the networks by which fraudulent money is being dispersed. Making fraud more difficult therefore acts as a disincentive.

The tool can reduce the amount of time that fraud analysts spend looking at accounts by adding flags to those suspicious accounts. Contrary to perception, this has actually caused fraud teams to expand, because they have more information available to them.

"The majority of banks are competitive. Fraud teams see collaboration as the way to raise the bar. That uniqueness of banks collaborating with each other through fraud has created a good environment for us to work together. "Marc Corbalan, Vocalink

How did Vocalink test AML Insights?

Presented the results to banks and waited for their approval before applying it to the live data

Used a feedback loop: the algorithm finds the accounts that it thinks are suspicious, these are then assessed by a fraud analyst. Through that feedback loop, the system becomes more and more accurate.

AML Insights is a world-first product and has attracted a lot of attention with other countries and other markets. They're currently working to see how they can deliver this technology to those businesses and customers.

If you'd like to learn more about Vocalink, or AML Insights, take a look at their website here

To listen to our dulcet tones on the podcast, you can find us on all the podcasting apps, or here

The latest Market Gravity podcast is all about the start-up mentality. How do you go from idea to reality? What’s the process behind launching a product, and what do you learn along the way?

Ben and I interviewed Noah Geeves from LIC Frozen Cocktails and Edward Tweddle from Flint Watches to hear how they started their respective companies. Their stories are similar: ideas sparked by recognising a need for something that they didn’t feel existed. (Listen to the full interview on the podcast here

LIC Frozen Cocktails was born from a complaint by Noah’s co-founder’s Mum. She was wondering why she couldn’t buy a frozen cocktail whilst on the beach. On returning home, Harry told Noah (both have backgrounds in Chemical & Electrical engineering) and they started from there. Ed’s company Flint Watches was sparked by a vintage Fossil watch found in a charity shop, which got him thinking about ways to bring new materials into the watch market.

How on earth do you go from an idea in your head, to a real product on the shelves of Sainsbury’s or being sold online I hear you ask. Each founder had a slightly different approach, but both reinforce the idea of continuously learning at every stage.

“We have a bit of a process around it…we’ll say ‘what is the end goal’? And we will sequentially work back one step at a time…essentially you break it down and break it down into tiny problems and then just knock them out the park one at a time – that’s the theory anyway” says Noah with an easy confidence.

Ed’s process was more organic – “when we release a product now it’s different to how it first happened” he said. “The first product was a learning curve, and it took a lot longer than we expected to bring that to market. We learnt everything we needed to know in order to release products in future…and I don’t think we would have learned that without going through that process.”

In order to learn, Flint Watches tested with customer focus groups to understand what they wanted from a premium watch brand. LIC Frozen Cocktails tested with family and friends before heading separately to two events determined to sell all the stock they had – with the belief that if they managed to sell it, they had a good product.

Ed’s determination was similar, driven by a passion for watches and wanting to create something that incorporated his passion for art and design. “There wasn’t anything out there that was really an artistic product” he says. However, passion alone wasn’t enough – it sounds as though getting the product out there was difficult at first: there were issues with their supply chain and their grass-roots, low budget approach led to complications.

“In order to produce a product and set up a company from a low budget, you need to take time, and it’s going to take you building relationships” says Ed.

Noah agrees wholeheartedly, “if suppliers don’t feel like stakeholders [in the business] they won’t work for you and they won’t invest.” Both founders impress strongly that neither company would be where they are today without the difficulties and everything they learned along the way.

Both founders have a can-do attitude – something that seems to be a pre-requisite if you’re starting your own company. We asked them their final piece of advice for fellow start-ups:

Noah: “Throw yourself in, reach out to people and don’t be afraid to ask questions. You don’t need to be solving the biggest problem in the world but, so long as you’re providing a better solution to someone’s problem, there will be someone who will want it. The next job is to get it in front of them!”

Edward: “Don’t replicate the winning components of all your competitors, as it will weaken your brand. Build a clear identity around your products, without overcomplicating your messaging.”

Find Flint Watches here or on social @flintwatches (Twitter and Instagram)

Market Gravity have a brand new podcast.

Launch Break (see what we did there?) is for anyone who wants to learn more about innovation processes and methods and the launches they have led to. If you’re wondering how to get that new idea from an idea to reality, from post-it to prototype, and you want to hear stories from others who have done just that, then this is the podcast for you. A fresh serving of inspiring and informative innovation content delivered to you on the first of each month by Olivia and Ben from Market Gravity.

You can find the podcast by searching Market Gravity on iTunes, or directly here.

Why are we doing a podcast?

Ben and I decided to launch this podcast because we wanted to share more stories of innovation and the launches that it has led to. Often, we hear about new products, services or ventures coming to market, but we don’t know anything about the journey to get there. What were the processes followed? What were the pitfalls and failures along the way that led to the success story? Who was involved? What methods were used in order to get it off the ground? You’ll hear answers to these questions and more as Ben and I interview corporate entrepreneurs and innovators from different industries and fields.

We wanted to give you the inspiration and information that you need, to ultimately help you launch your own venture. Perhaps that’s the confidence to start the process, or more help on where to even begin, and what support you need on the way to creating and launching something new – whatever that might be.

Ben and I don’t have any podcasting experience; we decided the best way to get the podcast going and to gain experience was to just do it! So, we’ll be learning along the way too.

What do Market Gravity do?

We help companies to create, design and build new propositions – and launch them into market. A new proposition can be; a product, service, new venture, customer experience launch strategy or physical store. One example is Conker, by Unite Students. It’s a new platform which helps students find great housing from responsible landlords.

We work with the world’s largest brands to help inject an entrepreneurial spirit into their businesses. That’s hard when you’re a huge company, and you have long standing, legacy ways of working. By sharing these stories, we hope to help other corporate entrepreneurs, or people who are interested in innovation, to hear how it’s been done, provide inspiration and share expertise.

How do we do that?

In practice, Market Gravity’s approach is to be customer-focused, not customer led. That means we bring customers into the heart of our creation process, to understand their needs and behaviors and use these to drive our idea generation. We test those ideas with customers, iterate them, and build them. We do this whilst developing commercial rigour around the proposition, assess the capabilities and requirements needed to launch a Minimum Viable Proposition (MVP). The MVP allows us to test and learn, building on the knowledge we gather as we work up to delivering the full proposition into market.

So what next?

You can expect to hear from different members from Market Gravity– starting with myself and Ben from the London office, interviewing fascinating people who’ve launched interesting things. If you’ve got ideas for who you’d like to hear us speak to, or want to know more about a specific topic, we’d love to hear it and incorporate it into the podcast – contact us at launchbreak@marketgravity.com if you do! Find the podcast right here, or in your favourite third party app.

Clydesdale and Yorkshire Bank, The AA, British Gas, ŠKODA, Ageas and rradar scoop CEA awards in what has been another incredible year of corporate innovation!

Market Gravity has announced the winners of the eighth annual CEA (Corporate Entrepreneur Awards) - the only event celebrating corporate innovation and corporate entrepreneurs, the individuals and teams behind the ideas remarking that “Science fiction is becoming science fact. It is the large, established businesses that are leading the way”.

The proposition design consultancy opened the nominations and voting out to the corporate entrepreneur community with shortlisted entries from big businesses in sectors such as retail, fintech, healthcare, telecoms, media, non-profit, banking, automotive, utilities, legal and wider technology which were then judged by an independent judging panel. Innovations needed to meet criteria such as differentiation, customer focus and demonstrable impact – both in the market and within the organisation.

Clydesdale and Yorkshire Bank scooped the top award for Best New Proposition for Studio B. Studio B brings together an in-branch open innovation lab (the first bank in the world to do so), a digitally led branch, and events space to create an exciting, engaging environment. It’s doubled B’s brand awareness in London, attracted the attention of global businesses and visitors and has been shortlisted for design awards. Clydesdale and Yorkshire Bank also scooped the Innovators' Choice award for Studio B which was voted for by guests on the night.

Second place was awarded to The AA for Car Genie which was launched exclusively to AA members this year. From helping to prevent breakdowns to tracking the location of a customer’s car, this engaging multipurpose connected car solution is helping to engage customers and staff alike. And it can be set up by the customer in their specific vehicle, in under one minute.

The AA team - CEA 2017 2nd place winners of the Best New Proposition for Car Genie

Third place was awarded to the Local Heroes team from British Gas. Local Heroes offers jobs completed in the home; booked within 30 seconds online and backed by a 12 month British Gas guarantee. Since launch it has consistently achieved a Net Promoter Score in the 80s and bought 30,000 new-to-brand customers into the British Gas eco-system.

British Gas Local Heroes - 3rd place CEA 2017 winners for Best New Proposition for Local Heroes

Three brands also achieved a huge number of peer votes and a strong response from the judging panel and were Highly Commended. These were:

ŠKODA for ŠKODA Live Tour which connects customers through live video streaming to a Live Tour showroom, where a Product Host uses a mixture of cameras to showcase ŠKODA cars in HD detail is on-hand to answer questions.

ŠKODA - Highly Commended at the CEA 2017 for ŠKODA Live Tour

Ageas for Elastic – a more flexible home insurance that fits with people’s lives. Just like the Netflix of home insurance, it just keeps rolling on a monthly basis. You don’t get tied into an annual contract and can choose monthly price plans.

Ageas - Highly Commended at the CEA 2017 for Elastic

rradar for rradargrace and rradarstation - a virtual assistant, powered by AI and machine learning, that provides simple answers to complex legal and HR questions. 60,000 businesses can now access rradar’s 24/7 and unlimited risk management advice and business protection for Legal, HR, Claims and Regulatory Investigations.

rradar - Highly Commended at the CEA 2017 for rradarstation and rradargrace

It’s been an incredible year of innovation.

In the past 12 months both Amazon and Google helped us talk to our homes. Dyson and Volvo announced their commitment to electric cars. And marking the tenth anniversary of the original, Apple released the iPhone Ten.

Peter Sayburn, CEO and founding partner for Market Gravity, says: “Bigger and better than ever, the CEAs have steadily become THE event for big company innovation. Everyone that enters the awards and guests that join us at the CEA party truly represent the pinnacle of corporate entrepreneurship”.

“We started this event eight years ago with a clear purpose. That purpose still makes sense today. We believe in the positive power of entrepreneurship. And we believe that entrepreneurship is alive and well in established organisations, as well as start-ups. So good to see that our previous year’s winners too are going from strength to strength, a few of which joined us at the event tonight”.

“2017 has been a big year for Market Gravity! We now have over 60 people in our five locations around the world. We helped our fantastic clients to design and launch dozens of new propositions for their customers. And in June this year, in recognition of our amazing team and the great work that we have done together, we because part of Deloitte - the world’s leading professional services business”.

The CEA is a showcase of the best in big company innovation and they recognise the incredible commitment and achievement of the teams that deliver it. The people behind the ideas.

The award ceremony took place on 23rd November 2017 at the Design Museum, London with over 300 of Europe’s most creative, disruptive and entrepreneurial business leaders from over 100 brands attending the unique event.

We know how much work it takes to create and launch a new proposition. And that’s why each year we take time to celebrate and recognise the best in big business innovation at the Market Gravity Corporate Entrepreneur Awards (CEA).

This Thursday, the 23rd November 2017, over 300 corporate innovators from over 100 of the world’s biggest brands will gather at the Design Museum, London for the 8th annual Market Gravity Corporate Entrepreneur Awards (CEA) party.

Here’s a taste of what’s to come on the night!

The Awards presentation

This year’s nominations came from a range of industry sectors including energy, healthcare, non-profit, financial services, telecoms and media. The CEA winners have been decided through a combination of public voting and our independent judging panel, and will be revealed on stage at 8.15pm! Preview all the nominees here.

Innovators’ Choice Award

All our 2017 nominees have a chance to win the Innovators’ Choice Award! Guests can cast their votes from 7-8pm on the night.

MG Hammertime

Guests can come and chat to the Market Gravity team in the MG Hammertime area about innovation, and how to inject an entrepreneurial spirit into big businesses innovation projects. There’s also a chance for guests to have their photo taken on the largest hammer ever to have graced the Design Museum!

Deloitte Digital TechZone – Building the Future of Experience

There’s a new TechZone to be explored this year where the possibilities of the latest tech and its impact on business will come alive! Guests will discover the future of an immersive and enhanced experience through Deloitte Digital’s emerging technology and trend showcases.

The ‘Connected Industry’ space showcases the possibilities of Industry 4.0 manufacturing sensors including automation, RFiD, robotics, artificial intelligence, sensors, data analytics, sharing economy and blockchain, that are now impacting organisations both across their end to end supply chains and within their factories.

The Connected Supply Chain is an industry agnostic demonstrator that every business can relate to. Guests will see the stages of the supply chain represented by physical assets that come to life throughout the journey. Interact with key challenges and statistics impacting each stage of the supply chain, and join the conversation around industry leading case studies.

The ‘Smart Spaces’ demonstration showcases the power of the Internet of Things (IoT) and an increasingly connected world by utilising live data of the surrounding environment. Track people traffic, movement of products and use data to enhance decision making and experience journeys with emerging technologies.

Through the ‘Augmented Human’ guests will discover how new technologies are blurring the boundaries of our physical and digital worlds… guests will be challenged to beat the clock and save the day with smart tech prizes up for grabs!

And of course there will be plenty of chance to chat, make new connections, eat and drink in our fantastic venue - the Design Museum!

The Market Gravity Corporate Entrepreneur Awards 2017 (CEA) is nearly here! On the 23rd November c. 300 guests from some of the world's largest global brands such as Vodafone, Jaguar Land Rover, Talk Talk, Bupa, Carlsberg, Cisco and HSBC will join us for an evening that recognises the people and teams behind some of the world’s best innovation. From breakthrough new products and services, to standout new ventures and businesses, CEA is an event like no other.

This year, the CEA winners are selected by a combination of public votes and an independent judging panel, formed of academics, practitioners and pioneers who we're excited to introduce below!

Amelia Kallman
Futurist, Consultant, Speaker

As an innovation and technology communicator, Amelia regularly writes and speaks on the future of business and brand experiences. Curator of international tech labs and exhibitions, she works with start-ups and corporate clients to make connections and future-proof strategies. She has lectured at Cambridge University, written an award-winning book, and directed the first burlesque show in Virtual Reality. Her writing is often featured in IBC365, WIRED UK, The Huffington Post, Forbes, and Fresh Business Thinking.

Iain Gibbons
Futures Director, Thomas Cook

Iain has extensive innovation and creative change experience. He began his career in advertising, becoming Managing Director of McCann-Erickson in 1999 where he developed the Bentley Knowledge Bank program. He then founded Mobious, a multi award winning digital marketing agency where he worked with brands such as Carling, Sky, Ladbrokes, Sage and Virgin. After selling Mobious in 2013 Iain joined the senior leadership team of Virgin Money as Customer Proposition Director where he led the development of the award winning Mortgage Lab. He is currently Futures Director for Thomas Cook Money, leading on innovation across finance and insurance for the business.

Dr. Muhammad Azam Roomi
Professor of Entrepreneurship and Business Growth; Vice Dean of Faculty, Research and Executive Education at the Prince Muhammad bin Salman College of Business and Entrepreneurship (MBSC).

Dr. Roomi is a passionate “entrepreneurial mindset activator” and has successfully conceptualised, designed, and conducted training and development programs for entrepreneurship development and business growth for over 50 global clients. He has consulted for national governments including the UK, Qatar, Oman, Bangladesh, Malaysia, Pakistan, Vietnam, and Honduras: for multilateral development agencies, and a range of private commercial organisations. His innovative teaching and capacity building pedagogies have earned him global recognition. Being the recipient of several international teaching and research awards, he is a recognised thought leader and prize-winning author in his field of practice.

Alex Marsh
Managing Director, Close Brothers Retail Finance

Alex Marsh is an inquisitive and passionate intrapreneur and business leader, with a proven track record across multiple disciplines of developing and executing strategies that deliver rapid yet sustainable transformation and growth. He is currently the Managing Director of Close Brothers Retail Finance, a fast growing and multi-award winning consumer finance business that helps specialist retailers unlock growth. Outside of work, Alex is passionate about encouraging education and development for young people, acting as a Chair of Governors for a large comprehensive secondary school in his home town of Brighton, mentoring both individuals and teams, and volunteers for a number of charities that support education. He also enjoys long-distance running and recently led a team to complete a 100km ultra-marathon for charity.

Joe joined Coutts in October 2011. He is the Head of Digital, Innovation, Business Development and Client Experience and a member of the Executive Committee. Joe has worked in banking and security for the online environment for more than 20 years, and has previously held a number of digital roles within RBS. Prior to Coutts, Joe spent five years as Managing Director for EMEA & Asia Pacific and as Global Head of Customer Relationships at IdenTrust. Joe holds an MBA and is married with two daughters.

Danielle Winandy
Head of RISK Innovation Office chez BNP Paribas

Danielle is a serial intrapreneur, with an experience of 10 years on Financial Services and eight years on innovation. She put in place Gate4 (an internal crowdfunding/sourcing platform for intrapreneurs), Lumen (a collective with other external companies to create a real status for the intrapreneurs (they are creating new laws about this topic in the French Market), and the intellectual property around intrapreneurs. She created Innovation Factory @ Securities Services. Last but not least, Danielle is certified on Disruption Strategy by Harvard Business School.

If you're a big business innovator and corporate entrepreneur, and would like to join us at the CEA party on the 23rd November at the Design Museum, please email fiona.elkins@marketgravity.com to request your ticket and for more information.

This year’s call for nominations across several industry sectors is seeing some fantastic entries. As the voting deadline falls closer (27th October!), here’s a sneak peak at a few of them! Meet the big businesses who are launching new innovations and creating an impact in their industry.

The AA: Car Genie

Car Genie, one of the first consumer-led offerings in the telematics space, is a connected car device that plugs into a car’s on-board diagnostics port with a range of benefits for the driver and society at large. This smart little device:

Prevents 1 in 3 breakdowns from happening

Knows your car’s location so you can find it or see if it’s been moved

Sky: Sky Mobile

Sky Mobile has been designed to reflect the way consumers use their phones today, offering flexibility, great value and ensuring that customers don’t waste paying for data they don’t use or need.

Sky launched SIM only plans in January 2017, which included the Mix, Roll and Sync propositions.

Customers can mix up their data, calls and texts to create a monthly plan that’s right for them. They can change their plan whenever they like so they only pay for what they need. In addition, Sky TV customers, can enjoy free unlimited UK calls and texts.

Roll enables customers to roll over any unused data for up to three years. There’s no limit to the amount customers can store and they can dip into their online Sky Piggy Bank whenever they like.

Swap gives customers the opportunity to get the latest phone every year with Swap12 or to get our lowest monthly price on bestselling phones with Swap24.

Post Office: Over 50’s Motor Insurance

The Post Office Insurance team wanted to deliver a proposition that the over 50’s segment truly valued. The result? A proposition that offers a range of benefits for this particular customer segment. Customers are guaranteed a saving of at least £50 compared to their existing provider’s best offer with customers often saving much more. The well-researched range of extended protection features such as a no claims discount and excess protection following a non-fault accident with an uninsured driver or following a vandalism claim; £150 child car seat cover for parents and grandparents; and £250 to cover hotel expense or alternative accommodation.

O2: O2 Drive

By using the mobile signal from a customer’s O2 mobile phone, O2 Drive builds a pattern of the customer’s journeys and prices each policy based on the individual’s driving behaviour. Customers can use the driving app to track their performance, provide hints and tips on improvements and even run competitions rewarding customers for safer driving.If a driver understands how they’re driving - they have more control over safety and reduce the likelihood of having a claim and keep their insurance costs as low as possible.

Customers also have access to Car Assistant - a service that makes car maintenance easier. Customers can arrange repairs and services through the assistant, who will secure a competitive price at a local garage and book the work for them.

PS Energy UK (subsidiary of nPower): Powershop

Powershop is not only new, it’s unique. It treats electricity like other consumer goods, allowing customers to purchase as much as they want, when they want. So, for the first time people can now buy energy in the same way that they fill up their car with as much fuel as they need, or stop off for milk when they’re running low. Most energy providers charge a fixed amount every month, which is often based on an estimated meter reading. If this doesn’t cover all the energy used the customer will receive an unexpected bill to make up the shortfall.

Powershop is different, because it gives customers the power to actively manage their account online, or via a free mobile app. So, there are no nasty surprises. And, it gives them the opportunity to make savings against its standard rate by buying discounted bundles of energy called Powerpacks. The more of their usage they cover with Powerpacks – the more they can save. In short, with Powershop, it’s the customer and not the energy provider that’s in control.

GreenFlag: Alert Me!

GreenFlag Alert me was the first successful rescue telematics product to hit the market. GreenFlag AlertMe uses state of the art telematics technology to integrate with a vehicle’s Engine Management and Power Management Systems and translate automotive engineering into easy to understand customer directives through the GreenFlag App.

AlertMe has two primary functions: 1) It monitors the health of the vehicle’s battery and can predict failure before the battery lets the motorist down so they can take preventative action and avoid a breakdown. 2) It connects to the engine management system and translates the meaning of the Engine Management Lamp illumination into one of 16 directives, some of which are safe for the vehicle to be driven to a repairer therefore saving the customer time waiting at the roadside.

HSBC: Beta

HSBC Beta offers a range of innovative new features that give customers more control over their money. HSBC Beta, announced to the press in September 2017, is a trial environment that allows the business to test and iterate a new mobile banking proposition. It is part of HSBC UK’s response to the increasingly competitive, digitally-driven, “open banking” world and reflects an understanding of our customers’ ever-changing relationship with money and their financial needs.

The initial release allows customers to aggregate all their accounts on one screen no matter who they bank with. Customers can add accounts from up to 21 different banks including Santander, Lloyds and Barclays and allows users to see not only their current account but credit cards, loans, mortgages and savings too.

Over the next few months, new features will be added to Beta, including a spend analysis and a digital coach so users can learn how to spend and save better.

British Gas: Local Heroes

Local Heroes offers customers jobs completed in the home, booked within 30 seconds online and backed by a 12 month British Gas guarantee. The service provides customers with price estimates before jobs, has no call out charge, offers online payment and provides the best of both worlds – local service with national backing. The service also provides a new generation of tradespeople that want jobs, on their terms, with flexibility and without having to pay for leads.

The On Demand home services market before this proposition lacked a provider that offered customers an end-to-end digital experience with robust customer support and quality. The market was really limited to directory websites and lead generation sites who had no real ‘skin in the game’ to ensure that the service quality was high. Local Heroes offers that end-to-end journey that others haven’t dared to do. For tradespeople, there were many models which insisted on high membership fees and charges for leads that might not convert, Local Heroes offers a new way of engaging with the market and paying only for the jobs you complete.

The Market Gravity Corporate Entrepreneur Awards

Now in its 8th year, the Market Gravity Corporate Entrepreneur Awards highlight and celebrate the technologies, innovations and teams that are driving businesses forward, and aim to inspire and encourage a community of corporate entrepreneurs to share best practice.

Big businesses are beginning to exploit the opportunities presented by new technologies, such as the Internet of Things, Artificial Intelligence, Virtual Reality and blockchain to create new products and services to meet customer needs and make their lives easier. To recognise the individuals and teams behind these exciting new developments, Market Gravity has opened the call for entries for the eighth annual Corporate Entrepreneur Awards (CEA).

These established awards highlight the technologies, innovations and teams that are driving businesses forward, and aim to inspire and encourage a community of corporate entrepreneurs to share best practice.

Call for nominations

Market Gravity is calling for nominations in several industry sectors including life sciences and healthcare, technology, media and telecoms, energy, financial services, public sector and non-profit, automotive, manufacturing and industry, and retail, FMCG and consumer products. Best New Proposition awards will be presented to winners across each sector with one overall winner scooping the Best New Proposition of 2017.

Nominations close on 27th October and voting begins on 30th October on the CEA website. A judging panel will debate and decide on the final winners announced at the awards ceremony,taking place on Thursday 23rd November at the Design Museum London.

Peter Sayburn, CEO at Market Gravity, says: “Now in its eighth year, these awards recognise and celebrate ground-breaking ideas, products and services that really are changing the status quo. The standard of big business innovation and the adoption of new technology is outstanding and corporate entrepreneurs, also known as intrapreneurs, are bringing new concepts and ideas to large organisations and getting them to market faster than ever before.

“The team at Market Gravity specialises in innovation; creating and launching new propositions and ventures with some of the world’s largest companies. We work alongside some brilliant teams across a range of sectors, helping them to create and launch new products and services that are improving their customers’ lives and helping achieve commercial growth. It's always great to bring together the best innovators from big businesses at the awards. We’re looking for differentiation, customer focus and impact and are inviting companies to nominate their new products, services and ventures into the awards - we wish everyone the very best of luck.”

During the ceremony on 23d November, around 300 of the UK’s most creative, disruptive and entrepreneurial business leaders will enjoy an informal party offering a great networking opportunity and the chance to learn from other innovation experts from some of the world’s largest brands. There will also be a tech zone showcasing examples of the latest technology and the impact it can have, with a competition to win one an Oculus Rift.

How to enter

If you or your team have launched a new product, service or business that you’re really proud of in the last 12 months, enter the Corporate Entrepreneur Awards at corporateentrepreneurawards.com

When Market Gravity recruit new team members, we look for an entrepreneurial spirit. The ability to inject entrepreneurialism into projects is at the heart of what we do to help big businesses create new, successful propositions. It’s this ‘secret sauce’ that makes us different to other innovation and proposition design consultancies.

Many of team at Market Gravity are entrepreneurs. They’ve started their own businesses outside of Market Gravity – something we advocate and actively look for. Our entrepreneurs know the work it takes to get something off the ground. They are passionate about ideas in the same way our clients are passionate about theirs. And they’re able to draw on their experiences when working together to create new products and services.

And because we love to share, celebrate and support our teams’ entrepreneurial passions, we’ve created a series of blogs about them. This month we chatted to Sonia Byun one of our Consultants in New York about a start-up she helped create and launch – Admoor.

Hi Sonia. What did your startup do?

Admoor offers an online tool which small businesses can design and purchase the outdoor ad units.

Times square, New York. Photo sourced from unsplash.com

Where did the idea come from?

I used to work in an advertising agency and saw that media buying for outdoor units is very difficult for small business. The reason is that the process of media buying is not transparent and requires a lot of industry knowledge to execute as a small business. However, people in general remember messages on outdoor ads 20% better than those on online ads. My team thought that we should create a tool that helps small business can utilize outdoor ad units.

What did you find most rewarding about the experience?

We got funding! Our team did many pitches in front of a variety of audience. We have pitched the idea during a seed fund event with more than 200 people, and have pitched in front of private investors as well. What is very rewarding is when the audience asks relevant questions, compliments on the idea, and sees the potential of the business. Receiving a fund is great because it shows confidence in our business and the team!

What was most challenging?

Most outdoor ad units/real estates are owned by a few media companies such as JC Decaux or CBS channels, and without an established relationship it is very difficult to navigate this oligopoly industry. Many companies also did not want to share their pricing information, as they are all scared of going into the open market. However, without them we cannot deliver the entire value chain experience to our customers.

We pivoted our plan and reached out to small outdoor media owners who focus on digital outdoor billboards. Their feedback was much more positive and they would like to work with us to display their units on our site.

Funniest anecdote?

Our team did a pitch of this idea throughout the entire school year at various events, and some of our MBA colleagues/friends became regulars to come to these events to support us. They start to even remember when we do certain animations within the pitch slide. They start to call themselves as “Admoor Groupies.”

How has the experience helped you at Market Gravity?

Everything we did to roll out a prototype of Admoor is relevant to MG. From creating a business plan including GTM, growth strategy, to putting together a team to develop a platform, many of these activities are relevant to what MG offers. This experience definitely helps me see the potential of a project and consider a growth plan for any product/project we roll out.

If you’d like to talk over any ideas that you have for launching a new proposition, or how to overcome innovation challenges you’re facing- get in touch.

We are delighted to be working in partnership with London Tech Week as it launches its first Academy. The London Tech Week Academy offers a series of unique learning experiences bringing the best and brightest talent to London.

Running from 12th to 16th June, with a focus on innovation in the digital age, London Tech Week Academy will be held at the Academy by Google. Up to 60 individuals from different backgrounds including product, digital, marketing and finance will join a corporate innovation journey going from Post-it® to prototype. The journey will culminate in a pitch to an expert panel.

This ground-breaking new programme, aimed at attracting the brightest and best talent in the UK and globally, will help executives unlock and commercialise digital innovation. Market Gravity co-founder and CEO Peter Sayburn co-created the programme with London Tech Week Academy. And Peter will also lead and facilitate the innovation curriculum, which will allow participants to take corporate innovation frameworks and capabilities back to their organisations.

The learning experience is for individuals with the drive and ambition to move their careers to the next level and help change and drive how their organisation innovates. Employers can sign up executives and high potentials to take part in the experiential learning programme. The programme goes through the innovation process focusing on four types of activities: learning, experiencing, engaging and delivering. Participants can also access exclusive TechXLR8 events, which showcase the latest technology. And they also have the opportunity to meet leading tech experts and innovation strategists.

Peter said: “It’s a fantastic honour for us to be delivering the Innovation mini-MBA together with the team at London Tech Week Academy. We look forward to welcoming innovators working within large and medium business from all sectors. It’s a unique opportunity for executives with between five to 15 years’ experience, as well as their employers, to access insights into delivering innovation within the workplace.

“Innovation is bringing new and exciting opportunities to businesses and now is the time to embrace the technology available and implement new ways of working. London Tech Week’s Academy is the ideal platform for executives looking to learn more about innovation processes first hand.”

Fionnuala Duggan, Director of the London Tech Week Academy added: “This is the first time we’re including an Academy element as part of London Tech Week. Market Gravity was the ideal partner for this immersive and engaging programme, thanks to the team’s deep expertise and experience of innovation within big businesses. We're looking forward to seeing participants engage with tech leaders and innovators at the different events happening throughout the week."

London Tech Week Academy will run three core programmes during London Tech Week:

A bespoke one or two-day C-Suite Digital Disruption and Innovation Immersion for senior management groups within a specific organisation, aimed at experiencing and understanding rising technology in action

A five-day Innovation Mini-MBA aimed at helping participants learn and practice how to unlock and commercialise digital innovation

A one-day digital marketing fast-track running each day from 12th to 16th June for individuals wanting to learn about all the digital marketing tools available today and trends to look out for this year.

London Tech Week 2017 will be organised by founding partners, KNect365, London & Partners and Tech London Advocates, with support from strategic partners Tech City UK, ExCeL London, DIT and techUK. More information on can be found https://londontechweek.com/